Like other countries, Uganda is also affected by Coronavirus. A presidential mandate has blocked the country, with measures similar to those implemented in Italy and other European countries: closed borders except for goods, stay at home, no movement between people, curfews... This has affected the whole population and our lives. Offices have been closed and new ways of smart-working have been explored. I live in the Avsi complex in Kampala. My office is also located there, so I am not greatly affected by the closure. When the isolation started, I sent a message to my friend Rose saying: "The people who will be most affected by this isolation are the poor, those who live in slums, those who work to earn their daily bread, who without the possibility of selling the little they have on the street will have nothing to eat.” Her response was like a bolt of lightning: "That is true! But God is there."

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Last week at the office, I found myself alone. No one was there and I was surrounded by an unusual silence. I felt a strong sense of loneliness, and, as time went by, also of sadness and despair, which also affected my manner of working. At the same time, I realized how precious my friends and colleagues are, and how sometimes I am mean to them. I missed them so much. Then, I remembered Rose's message: "God is there”. A liberation. I immediately connected with my closest friends and family online. In that moment, something snapped and changed within me. I was no longer alone: "God is there". The sense of loneliness did not disappear: it was still there, but it had become a friend. I even started to work better than usual, better than when my colleagues are with me. I am very grateful for the friendship that is given to me, which spurs me continually to judge and which awakens my self in all circumstances, however difficult they may be.

Samuel, Kampala, Uganda#Coronavirus